Table Of ContentENCYCLOPAEDIA
JUDAICA
ENCYCLOPAEDIA
JUDAICA
S E C O N D E D I T I O N
VOLUME 14
Mel–Nas
Fred Skolnik, Editor in Chief
Michael Berenbaum, Executive Editor
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
KETER PUBLISHING HOUSE LtD., JERUSALEM
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition
Fred Skolnik, Editor in Chief
Michael Berenbaum, Executive Editor
Shlomo S. (Yosh) Gafni, Editorial Project Manager
Rachel Gilon, Editorial Project Planning and Control
Thomson Gale
Gordon Macomber, President
Frank Menchaca, Senior Vice President and Publisher
Jay Flynn, Publisher
Hélène Potter, Publishing Director
Keter Publishing House
Yiphtach Dekel, Chief Executive Officer
Peter Tomkins, Executive Project Director
Complete staff listings appear in Volume 1
©2007 Keter Publishing House Ltd.
Thomson Gale is a part of The Thomson
Corporation. Thomson, Star Logo and Macmillan
Reference USA are trademarks and Gale is a
registered trademark used herein under license.
For more information, contact
Macmillan Reference USA
An imprint of Thomson Gale
27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535
Or you can visit our internet site at
http://www.gale.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this work covered by the copyright
hereon may be reproduced or used in any form
or by any means – graphic, electronic, or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
taping, web distribution, or information storage
retrieval systems – without the written
permission of the publisher.
For permission to use material from this
product, submit your request via Web at
http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions, or you
may download our Permissions Request form
and submit your request by fax or mail to:
Permissions Department
Thomson Gale
27500 Drake Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535
Permissions Hotline:
(+1) 248-699-8006 or
800-877-4253 ext. 8006
Fax:
(+1) 248-699-8074 or 800-762-4058
Since this page cannot legibly accommodate all
copyright notices, the acknowledgments consti-
tute an extension of the copyright notice.
While every effort has been made to ensure the
reliability of the information presented in this
publication, Thomson Gale does not guarantee
the accuracy of the data contained herein.
Thomson Gale accepts no payment for listing;
and inclusion in the publication of any organi-
zation, agency, institution, publication, service,
or individual does not imply endorsement of the
editors or publisher. Errors brought to the
attention of the publisher and verified to the
satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in
future editions.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Encyclopaedia Judaica / Fred Skolnik, editor-in-chief ; Michael Berenbaum, executive editor. -- 2nd ed.
v. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: v.1. Aa-Alp.
ISBN 0-02-865928-7 (set hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865929-5 (vol. 1 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-
865930-9 (vol. 2 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865931-7 (vol. 3 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865932-5 (vol.
4 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865933-3 (vol. 5 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865934-1 (vol. 6 hardcover :
alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865935-X (vol. 7 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865936-8 (vol. 8 hardcover : alk. paper) --
ISBN 0-02-865937-6 (vol. 9 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865938-4 (vol. 10 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-
865939-2 (vol. 11 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865940-6 (vol. 12 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865941-4
(vol. 13 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865942-2 (vol. 14 hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865943-0 (vol. 15: alk.
paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865944-9 (vol. 16: alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865945-7 (vol. 17: alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865946-5 (vol.
18: alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865947-3 (vol. 19: alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865948-1 (vol. 20: alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865949-
X (vol. 21: alk. paper) -- ISBN 0-02-865950-3 (vol. 22: alk. paper)
1. Jews -- Encyclopedias. I. Skolnik, Fred. II. Berenbaum, Michael, 1945-
DS102.8.E496 2007
909’.04924 -- dc22
2006020426
978-0-02-865928-2 (set)
978-0-02-865929-9 (vol. 1)
978-0-02-865930-5 (vol. 2)
978-0-02-865931-2 (vol. 3)
978-0-02-865932-9 (vol. 4)
978-0-02-865933-6 (vol. 5)
978-0-02-865934-3 (vol. 6)
978-0-02-865935-0 (vol. 7)
978-0-02-865936-7 (vol. 8)
978-0-02-865937-4 (vol. 9)
978-0-02-865938-1 (vol. 10)
978-0-02-865939-8 (vol. 11)
978-0-02-865940-4 (vol. 12)
978-0-02-865941-1 (vol. 13)
978-0-02-865942-8 (vol. 14)
978-0-02-865943-5 (vol. 15)
978-0-02-865944-2 (vol. 16)
978-0-02-865945-9 (vol. 17)
978-0-02-865946-6 (vol. 18)
978-0-02-865947-3 (vol. 19)
978-0-02-865948-0 (vol. 20)
978-0-02-865949-7 (vol. 21)
978-0-02-865950-3 (vol. 22)
This title is also available as an e-book
ISBN-10: 0-02-866097-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-02-866097-4
Contact your Thomson Gale representative for ordering information.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN-13:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Entries Mel–Nas
5
•
Abbreviations
General Abbreviations
793
Abbreviations used in Rabbinical Literature
794
Bibliographical Abbreviations
800
•
Transliteration Rules
813
Glossary
816
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 14
5
MELAMED, EZRA ZION (1903–1994), Israel talmudic
scholar and philologist. Born in Shiraz, Persia, Melamed was
taken to Palestine by his father, R.R. *Melamed, when he was
two. He worked at the Ministry of Education (1952–56), and
was appointed professor of Bible at the Hebrew University
(1964) and of Talmud at Bar Ilan (1961) and at Tel Aviv (1964)
universities. He was elected to the Hebrew Language Academy
in 1956 and to the Higher Archaeological Council in 1963. He
was awarded the Israel Prize in 1987 for Torah literature and
commentary on the sources. Melamed’s major works are in
the fields of talmudic literature: Midreshei Halakhah shel ha-
Tanna’im be-Talmud Bavli (1943), in which he collected berai-
tot in the Babylonian Talmud based on verses from the Penta-
teuch, and Ha-Yaḥas she-Bein Midreshei Halakhah la-Mishnah
ve-la-Tosefta (“Relations Between Halakhic Midrashim and
Mishnah and Tosefta,” 1967). Two related works were pub-
lished posthumously: Midreshei Halakhah shel ha-Tanna’im
be-Talmud Yerushalmi (2001) and Midreshei Halakhah shel
ha-Amoraim be-Talmud Yerushalmi (2004). Melamed devoted
much labor to editing the scientific legacy of his teacher Jacob
Nahum *Epstein, including Mekhilta de-Rabbi Simeon bar
Yoḥai (1955), Mevo’ot le-Sifrut ha-Tanna’im (1957), Mevo’ot le-
Sifrut ha-Amora’im (1962), and Dikduk Aramit Bavlit (1960).
He also edited B. de Vries’ Meḥ karim be-Sifrut ha-Talmud
(1968). He composed a special work in which he summarized
the most significant achievements of modern Talmud schol-
arship: Pirkei Mavo le-Sifrut ha-Talmud (1973). He prepared
textbooks and popular works, including Pirkei Minhag ve-
Halakhah (“Chapters of Custom and Halakhah,” 1955), and
Parashiyyot me-Aggadot ha-Tanna’im (“Chapters of Tannaitic
Aggadot,” 1955). Among his other writings are Tafsir Tehillim
bi-Leshon Yehudei Paras (“Psalms in Judeo-Persian,” 1968),
Millon Arami-Ivri le-Talmud Bavli le-Matḥilim (“Aramaic-
Hebrew Dictionary of the Babylonian Talmud for Beginners,”
1969), and a comprehensive glossary to the entire Babylonian
Talmud (Millon Arami-Ivri shel ha-Talmud ha-Bavli, 1992), as
Initial letter for the word Miserere
mei, “Have mercy upon me,” at the
beginning of Psalm 51 (Vulgate Ps.
50) from the 12th-century Psalter of
York. Seen here are David, with Bath-
Sheba behind him, being admonished
by Nathan. Uriah the Hittite lies dead,
stoned by an Ammonite. Copenhagen,
Royal Library, Thott, 143, fol. 68r.
Mel-Mz
6
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 14
well as articles in scientific journals. Of special significance
is his edition of Eusebius’ geographical work Onomastikon,
which he translated from the original (1938). Because of his
involvement with the Persian and other Oriental communities
(whom he served as honorary rabbi) and his familiarity with
their traditions of custom and language, Melamed served as
an important source on such community traditions.
[Menahem Zevi Kaddari / Stephen G. Wald (2nd ed.)]
MELAMED, MEIR (second half of 15t century), financier in
Spain during the period of the expulsion. A Hebrew author of
the period calls him the “king’s secretary,” apparently because
he held office in one of the royal accounting departments. In
official documents he is referred to as “Rabbi” and not “Don,”
as were most of the other Jewish tax farmers, which indicates
that he was a scholar. He lived mainly in Segovia. In 1487 he
succeeded his aged father-in-law Abraham *Seneor as chief
administrator of tax farming in the kingdom. On June 15, 1492,
he and Abraham Seneor were baptized with great ceremony at
Guadalupe, Ferdinand and Isabella acting as godparents. As
a Christian he adopted the name Fernándo Núñez Coronel.
On June 23, 1492, he was appointed chief accountant (conta-
dor mayor). He also became a permanent member of the royal
council and was town councillor (regidor) in Segovia.
Bibliography: Baer, Spain, index, S.V. Meir Melamed Baer,
Urkunden, index; Suárez Fernández, Documentos, index. Add. Bib-
liography: C. Carrete Parrondo, in: Sefarad, 37 (1977), 339–49.
MELAMED, RAḤ AMIM REUVEN (1854–1938), Persian
rabbi and preacher. Born in Shiraz, he moved to Jerusalem
in 1906, established a yeshivah in his own home, and served
as rabbi to the Persian Jews. He wrote many commentaries
in both Hebrew and *Judeo-Persian to the Pentateuch, the
Scrolls, Avot, and portions of the Zohar: among them Kisse
Raḥ amim (1911), Yeshu’ah ve-Raḥ amim (1912), Ẓ edakah ve-
Raḥamim (1926), Ḥ ayyei Raḥamim (1929), Zikhron Raḥ amim
(1930), and Seder Leil Pesaḥ (in Hebrew and Persian, 1930), all
published in Jerusalem. Some of his works were republished
by his son, Ezra Zion *Melamed.
Bibliography: M.D. Gaon, Yehudei ha-Mizraḥ be-Ereẓ Yis-
rael, 2 (1937), 437–8.
[Walter Joseph Fischel]
MELAMED, SIMAN TOV (d. c. 1780), spiritual leader of
the Jewish community in *Meshed. A poet, philosopher, and
author of many treatises in Hebrew and *Judeo-Persian, he
composed *azharot (1896) in Judeo-Persian (portions of which
were written in Persian, as well as Aramaic and Hebrew). A
manuscript of his commentary to Pirkei Avot is in the pos-
session of Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, together with
other of his writings. His major work is his philosophical-reli-
gious Sefer Ḥ ayyat al-Rukh (published 1898), which combines
a commentary on Maimonides’ teachings on the 13 articles
of faith and a treatise on Israel’s existence in the Diaspora
and ultimate salvation. The work shows a strong influence of
the Sufic ideas of *Baḥya ibn Paquda’s Ḥ ovot ha-Levavot and
other Jewish and Muslim medieval thinkers. In the tradition
of Meshed’s Jews, Siman Tov Melamed is also remembered
as a staunch defender of Judaism in theological disputations
which the Shiʿa clergy arranged between him, Muslims, and
Jewish converts.
Bibliography: W. Bacher, in: ZHB, 14 (1910), 51ff.; A. Yaari,
Sifrei Yehudei Bukharah (1942), nos. 33, 39, 161; E. Neumark, Massaʿ
be-Ereẓ ha-Kedem, ed. by A. Yaari (1947), 95; W.J. Fischel, in: L. Fin-
kelstein (ed.), The Jews, 2 (19603), 1174, 1177; E. Spicehandler, in: SBB,
8 (1968), 114–36.
[Walter Joseph Fischel]
°MELANCHTHON (Schwarzerd), PHILIPP (1497–1560),
German reformer and theologian. Born at Bretten in Baden,
Melanchthon was a great-nephew of the Hebraist and Chris-
tian kabbalist Johann *Reuchlin, who taught him Hebrew and
supervised his education at Pforzheim. In 1518, at the age of
21, Melanchthon was appointed professor of Greek at Witten-
berg but within a year he had sided with Martin *Luther in
the struggle with Rome, thus alienating Reuchlin, who later
disinherited him. Melanchthon was Luther’s principal assis-
tant in translating the Old Testament into German (1523–34).
Widely respected as a humanist and theologian, he favored
study of the Kabbalah, but condemned its later accretions.
One of his addresses on the importance of Hebrew, De studio
linguae Ebraeae, appeared in 1549. Although Melanchthon was
influenced by Luther’s antisemitism, he avoided its cruder ex-
cesses and in 1539, at the Frankfurt religious assembly, publicly
denounced the blood libel that had resulted in the martyrdom
of 38 Brandenburg Jews in 1510.
Bibliography: K. Hartfelder, P. Melanchthon als Praeceptor
Germaniae (1889); G. Ellinger, Philipp Melanchthon (Ger., 1902); F.
Hildebrandt, Melanchthon: Alien or Ally? (1946); C.L. Manschreck,
Melanchthon, the Quiet Reformer (1958); H. Sick, Melanchthon als Aus-
leger des Alten Testaments (1959); G. Kisch, Melanchthons Rechtsund
Soziallehre (1967); Baron, Social2, 13, 229ff.
MELAVVEH MALKAH (Heb. הָּכְלַמהֵּוַלְמ; “escorting the
queen”), term used to describe the meal and festivities at the
end of the Sabbath. This gesture of farewell to the “queen”
(Sabbath) is designed as the counterpart of the festivities
which greeted her arrival. The origin of the custom has been
traced to the Talmud. R. Ḥ anina asserted that the table should
be (festively) laid at the termination of the Sabbath, although
only a small amount of food would be eaten (Shab. 119b). The
melavveh malkah was later seen by both *Jacob b. Asher and
Joseph *Caro to be the fulfillment of R. Ḥ idka’s injunction
to celebrate four meals on the Sabbath (Shab. 117b). It was in
the context of this injunction that the melavveh malkah later
assumed the image of a virtually voluntary extension of the
Sabbath. Isaac *Luria, for example, believed that not until the
melavveh malkah was over did the sinful dead return to hell
from their Sabbath rest, and the kabbalists and Ḥ asidim were
so reluctant to relinquish the honored Sabbath guest, that they
used the melavveh malkah as a means of prolonging the Sab-
melamed, meir
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 14
7
bath day as long as possible. They used the occasion to chant
special *zemirot and to relate ḥasidic tales. The melavveh mal-
kah is also known as se’udat David (“King David’s banquet”).
As such, it serves as a reminder of the legend that King David,
having been told by God that he would die on the Sabbath
(Shab. 30a), celebrated his survival each new week with spe-
cial joy (Ta’amei Minhagim).
One of the favorite melavveh malkah hymns is Eliyahu
ha-Navi (“Elijah the Prophet”), attributed by some authorities
to *Meir of Rothenburg. It welcomes the prophet as the herald
of the Messiah. According to legend, Elijah is expected to an-
nounce the salvation of Israel at the first opportunity after the
termination of the Sabbath. Medieval paytanim devoted sev-
eral other zemirot to the melavveh malkah festivities. Among
the most notable are Be-Moẓa’ei Yom Menuḥah by Jacob Me-
nea (14t century); Addir Ayom ve-Nora, Ish Ḥ asid by Jesse b.
Mordecai (13t century); and Amar Adonai le-Ya’akov.
Bibliography: Eisenstein, Dinim, 227; H. Schauss, Guide to
Jewish Holy Days (1962), 27, 30, 35.
[Harry Rabinowicz]
MELBOURNE, capital of Victoria, Australia. The 15 Port
Phillip Association members who founded Melbourne in
1835 included two Jews. Melbourne is today the only Jewish
community of any size in the State of Victoria. During the
19t century however a considerable number of Jews settled
in other centers in the State, but the country communities
practically disappeared. The Melbourne Jewish community
was established in 1841.
Early Metropolitan Settlement
Jews clustered around shops and businesses in the center of
the city in Collins, Bourke, and Elizabeth streets and in 1847
opened the first synagogue (Melbourne Hebrew Congrega-
tion) in that area. The influx in the 1850s and 1860s led to set-
tlement in working-class districts in the suburbs adjoining
the city – Fitzroy, Carlton, Richmond, and East Melbourne.
The East Melbourne Congregation was founded in 1857 with
Moses Rintel as minister, most of the congregants being im-
migrants from Germany and Austria. At the turn of the cen-
tury this congregation was led by the patriarchal figure, Rev.
Jacob Lenzer.
There were continuous movements of Jews from their
first areas of settlement to new areas. In the wake of such a
group movement the St. Kilda Synagogue was opened in 1872.
In the period before compulsory education the Melbourne
Hebrew School was established as a day school in 1874 and
continued until 1886, when it was closed because of financial
difficulties. In 1888 the three congregations (Melbourne, East
Melbourne, and St. Kilda) established the United Jewish Edu-
cation Board, which conducted part-time Hebrew schools in
various centers. As they moved from area to area, the Jews as-
cended in the social and occupational ladder and by 1900 the
most popular occupations were textile manufacturing, general
dealing, and skilled trades such as tailoring, watchmaking, and
cabinetmaking. Small draper shop-owners were beginning to
acquire large retail stores. Carpenters were opening furniture
factories. Less than 3 were in the professions. During the
first decades of the 20t century there gradually developed a
struggle for communal supremacy between the earlier immi-
grants who lived south of the Yarra River, and who were more
prosperous and assimilated, and the more recent immigrants,
mostly from Eastern Europe, who were concentrated north of
the river, and who were Yiddish-speaking, with an Orthodox
background, Yiddish culture, and strong Zionist leanings.
Concurrently, a change took place in the centers of Jewish
activity. Whereas until the first decades of the 20t century life
centered around the synagogues, in the next decades a shift
took place, non-synagogal bodies being organized and gradu-
ally taking a more prominent place in communal leadership.
The synagogues in the first decades of the 20t century were
the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation (first at Bourke St. in the
city; after 1930 at Toorak Road) and the St. Kilda Synagogue
south of the Yarra, and the East Melbourne Synagogue and
the Carlton Synagogue (established 1927), north of the Yarra.
Some smaller minyanim had also been formed, notably the
Woolf Davis Chevra, run by the family of J.E. Stone, and the
Talmud Torah Hascola at North Carlton. A number of societ-
ies mainly in the hands of the south of the Yarra element were
already in existence – the Philanthropic Society, Aid Society,
Welfare Society, Sick Visiting Society, the Chevra Kadisha
(founded 1910), the United Shechita Board, and the Beth Din.
A number of bodies began to spring up north of the Yarra.
In 1912 new immigrants had helped to form a center of Yid-
dish culture, the “Jewish National Library-Kadimah,” which
apart from its book collection held regular cultural meetings
including Yiddish lectures and plays.
The Judean League of Victoria was founded in 1921 as
a roof-organization for non-synagogal activity, sports, liter-
ary, cultural, social, and Zionist activity. Its headquarters in
its heyday at Monash House, Carlton, was a vibrant center
of Jewish activity every night of the week for three decades.
Its founder and leading spirit was Maurice *Ashkanasy. The
struggle between the two elements ended in 1948 with a demo-
cratic representation unifying the whole community and put-
ting an end to the era of Anglo-Jewish patrician control and
of the congregational dictatorship in communal affairs. The
place of Melbourne (later Victorian) Jewish Advisory Board
(established in 1921), a strictly synagogal body, was taken by
the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies (in 1948) which gave a
new direction to communal activities, and brought about the
formulation of a community viewpoint on all matters affect-
ing both local Jewry, such as public relations, immigration,
and a deepening of Jewish cultural values, and wider Jewish
issues such as Zionism and antisemitism. There was also a
move from voluntary philanthropy to organized professional
social services. It operated through the following commit-
tees: education, social welfare, immigration, public relations,
appeals coordination, youth, organization and statistics, and
congregational. The struggle was fought out on a number of
points, including the question of the kashrut of frozen meat
melbourne
8
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 14
exported to Palestine, prepared under the supervision of the
United Shechita Board and its chief shoḥ et Rabbi I.J. Super
(who served the community as shoḥet, mohel, and teacher for
more than half a century), which was challenged by Rabbi J.L.
Gurewicz, disciple of Chaim Ozer *Grodzinsky of Vilna and
the respected leader of the Orthodox Carlton Synagogue in
its heyday. The main issues however were the battle against
anti-Zionist elements in the mid-1940s, the struggle for the
establishment of a Jewish day school, the continuing cleavage
between the Orthodox and the Liberals, a stubborn but losing
battle for the greater use of Yiddish, the attitude to antisemi-
tism, and the problem of public relations.
The Transformation of the Community
Between the late 1930s and the mid-1950s the Melbourne
Jewish community was transformed, as were the other cen-
ters of Australian Jewish life, by a number of important in-
terrelated events. Some of this change occurred before, when
the traditional synagogues, mainly Anglo-Jewish in orienta-
tion, such as the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and the
St. Kilda Hebrew Congregation, which had provided com-
munal leadership, were challenged by new synagogues repre-
senting either a stricter European Orthodoxy or the Reform
congregation founded in 1930. A Yiddish-speaking compo-
nent already existed, centered in Carlton, just north of central
Melbourne, rather than in the traditional middle-class Jewish
area of St. Kilda, south of the inner city. Institutions like the
Jewish National Library–Kadimah, founded in 1912, and the
Judean League, a center of cultural life and pro-Zionist activ-
ity, founded in 1921, emerged in Yiddish Carlton, whose in-
habitants demonstrated the range of Jewish orientations and
ideologies of troubled Europe.
There was no secular communal representative body un-
til the foundation of the Victorian Jewish Advisory Board in
1938, an organization which changed its name in May 1947 to
the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies (VJBD), and, in Oc-
tober 1988, to the Jewish Community Council of Victoria.
Although all local synagogues which wished to affiliate to the
Board could do so, it also included a plethora of secular bod-
ies, including Zionist and Yiddish groups. These representa-
tive bodies took a much more visible and direct role in lob-
bying on behalf of Jewish interests to the government and the
media than was previously the case.
While (with many exceptions) the old Anglo-Jewish-
dominated Melbourne community had been notably luke-
warm on Zionism, the new community was, by and large,
enthusiastically pro-Zionist, and, in the decade before the es-
tablishment of Israel, defended the creation of a Jewish state
against influential local Jewish non-Zionists such as Rabbi
Jacob *Danglow and Sir Isaac *Isaacs. Perhaps the most im-
portant manifestation of the new Jewish assertiveness in Mel-
bourne was the foundation of Mt. Scopus College, the first
Jewish day school, in 1949. Mt. Scopus was coeducational,
and moderately Orthodox and Zionist in its orientation. By
the 1980s eight full-time Jewish day schools, representing
various trends in the Jewish community, had been founded.
The relatively large-scale migration to Melbourne of perhaps
35,000 Holocaust refugees and survivors, especially from
Poland, dramatically changed the nature of the community,
adding not merely to its pro-Zionist and Orthodox strength,
but to its secular Yiddish and leftist elements. This in turn
produced a number of major cleavages within the commu-
nity, especially between the mainstream community and an
allegedly pro-Communist communal defense body, the Jew-
ish Council to Combat Fascism and Antisemitism, which re-
sulted in the Council’s expulsion from the VJBD in 1952, and
notably bad relations between the Orthodox synagogues and
the Reform movement (which included significant numbers
of German and Austrian refugees). As well, Yiddish persisted
as a significant Jewish lingua franca in Melbourne for decades
after the War. By the mid-1950s, however – and certainly by
the 1967 War – the Melbourne Jewish community had been
transformed into one which was enthusiastically pro-Zionist,
religiously pluralistic but with a large Orthodox majority, out-
spoken in defense of its interests, and keen to deter assimila-
tion through the creation of a large Jewish day school move-
ment. A number of individual activists responsible for these
developments, such as Maurice *Ashkanasy, Alex Masel, and
Benzion Patkin (1902–1984), the chief founder of Mt. Scopus
College, should to be mentioned here. Visitors to Melbourne
were often amazed at the breadth and vigor of its institutions
and it was often known as the “shtetl on the Yarra” – Mel-
bourne’s river – for its extraordinary preservation of many of
the cultural, linguistic, and ideological matrices of prewar Eu-
rope. Melbourne was also often contrasted with Sydney, which
had fewer Polish Holocaust refugees but more from Britain
and Hungary, and was widely seen as less assertively Jewish
than Melbourne, at least down to the 1990s. The rivalry be-
tween Melbourne and Sydney was found in many aspects of
Australian life, and, in the case of the two Jewish communi-
ties, probably owed something to the more extreme nature of
Victoria’s left-wing, often anti-Israel, stance which emerged
in the 1950s from local political developments.
The Contemporary Community
DEMOGRAPHY. Melbourne has experienced considerable
and continuing growth during the postwar period. The num-
ber of declared Jews in Melbourne, according to the optional
religious question in the Australian census, rose from about
22,000 in 1954 to 26,409 in 1971 and then to 35,383 in 1996 and
37,779 in 2001. Since this is based on responses to an optional
question of religious affiliation (rather than ethnic identity),
the actual number is certainly much higher, probably in the
range of 50–55,000, just under 2 of Melbourne’s population
of about 2.9 million. Most Melbourne Jews tend to live in a
small number of well-defined Jewish neighborhoods. Among
the 17 postal code areas (equivalent to zip codes in the United
States, but somewhat smaller in size) in Australia with the
highest number of Jews in the 2001 census, nine were in Mel-
bourne, including three of the top five. The largest and most
melbourne
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 14
9
obviously Jewish areas of concentration are the Caulfield–St.
Kilda East–Elsternwick districts, about five miles south of cen-
tral Melbourne, where 18,216 Jews were identified in the 2001
census. This area contains many Jewish synagogues, institu-
tions, and shops, and a large and visible Strictly Orthodox
community. The other significant areas of Jewish concentration
were adjacent to this core area: Bentleigh (2,667 Jews in 2001),
to the east; the wealthy neighborhood of Toorak (1,611 Jews)
to its north; and East Brighton (1,316 Jews) to its south. These
neighborhoods became heavily Jewish just after World War II
and have remained very stable ever since. There is little or no
sign of Jewish suburbanization, as in many other Diaspora
societies, nor any equivalent of “white flight,” as in the United
States, away from decaying neighborhoods. The only major
change in Melbourne’s Jewish demographic pattern since 1945
has been the decline to the vanishing point of the former area of
East European Jewish settlement in Carlton, immediately north
of central Melbourne, which, until the 1960s, contained many
Yiddish-based institutions such as the Kadimah, the leading
Yiddish cultural and social center. The Melbourne Jewish com-
munity has grown chiefly by immigration, welcoming succes-
sive waves of German Holocaust refugees and a very large flow
of postwar Holocaust survivors, especially from Poland, and
then more recent groups of South African and ex-Soviet im-
migrants, as well as a continuing settlement of Jews from the
English-speaking world and elsewhere for normal professional
purposes. Nevertheless, the stability of Melbourne Jewry, and
other social characteristics, have given it some very favorable
features. A 1991 random sample survey of the community, for
example, found that the Melbourne Jewish fertility rate was
apparently above the replacement level, a notable accomplish-
ment for a middle-class Diaspora Jewish community.
CONGREGATIONS. In terms of congregational affiliation,
Melbourne had about 50 synagogues in the early 21st century,
of which four were Liberal (Reform) and one Masorti (Con-
servative), one Independent, and all the others Orthodox of
various strands ranging from moderate Anglo-Orthodoxy to
Strict Orthodoxy. The postwar era has seen a vast expansion
in the range of congregational affiliation beyond the Anglo-
Orthodoxy predominant before 1939, especially at the reli-
gious extremes. Relations between the Orthodox and Re-
form components of the community have been notably bad,
as have, to a lesser extent, relations between different strands
in Orthodoxy. In part for this reason, no postwar Melbourne
rabbi has been able to act as recognized spokesman for the
whole community, in the manner of Rabbi Jacob Danglow
before the war. A number of rabbis, such as the Orthodox
*Gutnicks, Yitzhak *Groner, and John S. *Levi from the Lib-
erals, have been viewed by many as notable leaders, but none
has been regarded as a consensual leader.
COMMUNAL LEADERSHIP. Instead, the leadership of the
community has been vested in its representative body, known
(1938–47) as the Victorian Jewish Advisory Board, then (1947–
88) as the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies (VJBD); and
since 1988 as the Jewish Community Council of Victoria
(JCCV). Its president (elected annually, and normally serving
a two-year term) and other office-holders are regarded as the
community’s spokesmen to the media and government. The
JCCV is composed of representatives of many Jewish organi-
zations in Melbourne, including most synagogues, Zionist
bodies, fraternal, women’s, and youth groups. There is no pro-
vision to elect individuals on a personal basis. The JCCV has
at all times represented a consensual position in the commu-
nity, strongly supportive of Israel as well as multiculturalism
and the Jewish day school system. It monitors and combats
antisemitism and extreme anti-Zionism. By its constitution,
no religious question can be discussed, since any debating of
religious issues is likely to be divisive. The JCCV, which meets
on a monthly basis, works closely with the Executive Council
of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), the national representative body
of the community, and the Zionist Federation.
EDUCATION. Probably the major reason for the relative suc-
cess of the Jewish community in Melbourne has been the Jew-
ish day school system. Since 1949, nine full-time Jewish day
schools have been established in Melbourne. (See *Australia
for list.) In 1962, 1,480 students attended these schools, a total
which rose to 4,840 in 1982, 5,492 in 1989, and about 6,000 in
2004. The experience of Melbourne has clearly been that edu-
cation there strongly discourages assimilation and intermar-
riage. One of the major challenges confronting the Melbourne
Jewish community is the ever-increasing cost of education at
Jewish schools (which are private and fee-paying, although
they receive some state funding). No long-term solution to this
problem is yet in sight. Jewish interest courses exist at Monash
University, but the underfunding of the tertiary and research
sectors compared with the Jewish school system is also a no-
table and unfortunate feature of the community.
There are a number of Jewish museums in Melbourne
which would be of interest to tourists. The Jewish Museum
of Australia (26 Alma Road, St. Kilda) contains exhibits on
Australian Jewry history. The Jewish Holocaust Museum and
Research Centre (13 Selwyn Street, Elsternwick) has used Ho-
locaust survivors as tour guides. Melbourne’s most prominent
Jewish landmark is certainly the magnificent Melbourne He-
brew Congregation’s synagogue at Toorak Road and Domain
Road, South Yarra.
COMMUNAL RELATIONS. Relations between the Melbourne
Jewish community and the local state government of Victo-
ria have generally been very good. Only very occasionally
have difficulties arisen, for instance in the late 1970s when a
strongly anti-Zionist and radical segment of the local Austra-
lian Labor Party supported a radical radio station, 3RC, whose
license to broadcast to the Jewish community was questioned
at a series of public hearings. By and large, however, relations
between the Jewish community and successive Victoria gov-
ernments have been harmonious. Relations with the local
melbourne
10
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 14
media are also good, although the community has protested
many times when Israel is unfairly criticized, as has become
common, especially in the liberal media and on “talk-back”
radio. Relations with other groups in the wider community
are normally also harmonious, despite the existence of anti-
semitic and anti-Zionist activists and the threat of terrorism,
especially from extremist sections of Melbourne’s growing
Muslim community.
Bibliography: P.Y. Medding, From Assimilation to Group
Survival (1958), incl. bibl.; L.M. Goldman, Jews in Victoria in the 19t
Century (1954), incl. bibl.; I. Solomon, in: Journal of the Australian
Jewish Historical Society, 2 (1946), 332–48; N. Spielvogel, ibid., 2 (1946),
356–8; R. Apple, ibid., 4 (1955), 61. Add. Bibliography: W.D. Ru-
binstein, “Jews in the 1966 Australian Census,” in: Australian Jewish
Historical Society Journal, 14, Part 3 (1998), 495–508; idem, “Jews in
the 2001 Australian Census,” ibid., 17, Part 1 (2003), 74–83; P. Maclean
and M. Turnbull, “The Jews [of Carlton],” in: P. Yule (ed.), Carlton: A
History (2004). See also *Australia.
Israel Porush and Yitzhak Rischin / William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)]
MELCHIOR, family prominent in Denmark since the mid-
18t century. Originally from Hamburg, where the family had
lived since the 18t century, MOSES MELCHIOR (1736–1817) ar-
rived in Copenhagen in 1750. He became a successful dealer
in leather and tobacco and in 1795 founded the import-ex-
port firm of Moses and Son G. Melchior, which is still in ex-
istence. His son GERSON (1771–1845) took over the business
on his father’s death, and enlarged it by importing sugar, rum,
and tea. He was one of the leaders of the Copenhagen Jewish
community. One of his sons, NATHAN GERSON (1811–1872),
was a prominent ophthalmologist. He lectured at Copenhagen
University and in 1857 became a director of the Ophthalmo-
logical Institute in Copenhagen. Another son, MORITZ GER-
SON (1816–1884), succeeded his father as head of the firm in
1845, establishing branches in the Danish West Indies and in
Melbourne, Australia. Melchior was a member of the land-
sting (upper house of the Danish parliament) from 1866 to
1874 and was the first Jew to belong to the Danish Chamber
of Commerce, becoming its president in 1873. Active also in
the Jewish community, he served as a trustee and was made
president in 1852. The writer Hans Christian Andersen was
a friend and frequent guest in his house. His brother MOSES
(1825–1912) succeeded him in 1884, opening a New York office
in 1898. He was well known for his philanthropy, contribut-
ing to many Jewish and general causes. CARL HENRIQUES
(1855–1931) took over the business after his brother’s death
and expanded it. He organized many athletic associations and
sports clubs in Denmark and became their patron. Like his
brother, he was the president of the Copenhagen community
(1911–29). His son HARALD RAPHAEL (1896–1973) succeeded
him in the firm, which dealt in the import of coffee, tea, rice,
cocoa, and vanilla.
Bibliography: Moses og søn G. Melchior, Et dansk han-
delshus gennem 6 generationer (1961), Eng. summary 53–56; Dansk
Biografisk Haandleksikon, S.V.; Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, S.V.
MELCHIOR, CARL (1871–1933), German banker. Melchior,
who was born in Hamburg, studied law and later became a
judge there. In 1900 he was appointed legal counsel to the
bank M.M. Warburg and Co. and in 1917 became a partner in
the bank. During World War I, he served as a captain in the
German Army and was badly wounded. After his recupera-
tion, he worked for the German government’s Zentraleinkaufs-
gesellschaft (ZEG), which was charged during the war with
importing foodstuffs. Melchior always considered himself a
patriot. From 1918 to 1919, together with Max M. Warburg,
he took part as a German delegate in the financial and eco-
nomic negotiations following the armistice. Melchior subse-
quently played a prominent role in the lengthy negotiations
which eventually paved the way for Germany’s reacceptance
into the community of nations and displayed a mastery of fi-
nancial and legal issues, diplomatic tact, and attention to de-
tail. As a Jew he was afraid to arouse antisemitism by holding
official positions, so he tried to act more in the background.
At the international conference in Spa in 1920 as an expert for
the German government, together with Walther *Rathenau
and Moritz Julius *Bonn Melchior created the “policy of ful-
fillment” as a strategy of how Germany should pay its repara-
tions. After Germany’s admission to the League of Nations,
Melchior became the only German member of the League’s
finance committee and in 1928–29 its chairman. In 1929 he
was one of the German delegates discussing the revision of
the Dawes Plan, under which German reparation payments
were scheduled. He also served as a member of the board of
the Bank for International Settlements in Basle and in other
political or economic functions concerning international fi-
nancial affairs. In the early 1930s he hoped that integrating the
NSDAP, which he detested, into the government would placate
the Nazis. After the Nazis took power in 1933, he lost his po-
sitions on several company boards. Melchior became active
in the preparation for the formation of the *Reichsvertretung
der deutschen Juden. In November 1933 he died.
Bibliography: Carl Melchior, Ein Buch des Gedenkens und
der Freundschaft (1967). Add. Bibliography: J.M. Keynes, Two
Memoirs: Dr. Melchior: A Defeated Enemy and My Early Beliefs (1949),
German translation: Freund und Feind (2004); Verein fuer Ham-
burgische Geschichte (ed.), E. Rosenbaum et al., Das Bankhaus M.M.
Warburg & Co. 1798–1938 (1976); S. Philipson, Von Versailles nach
Jerusalem: Dr. Carl Melchior und sein Werk (1985).
[Joachim O. Ronall / Christian Schoelzel (2nd ed.)]
MELCHIOR, MARCUS (1897–1969), chief rabbi of Denmark.
Born in Fredericia of an old Danish family, Melchior received
his rabbinical diploma in 1921 from the Hildesheimer Seminary.
He served as rabbi in Tarnowice, Poland (1921–23), in Beuthen,
Germany (1925–34), and as rabbi of the Danish refugees in Swe-
den (1943–45). From 1947 he was the chief rabbi of Denmark.
Melchior endeavored to promote understanding between all
the religious trends in Judaism, while personally advocating the
modern Orthodox one. He supported Zionism short of advo-
cating aliyah. The main spokesman of Danish Jewry before the
melchior
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 14
11
gentile community, Melchior was considered one of the prom-
inent orators in Denmark. He supported the establishment of
relations and furthering of understanding with West Germany.
Among his books are Jødedommen i vor tid (19662); En jødedom-
mens historie (1962); Levet og oplevet (1965; A Rabbi Remembers,
1968; also Ger. tr.); and Tœnkt og Talt (1967). He translated into
Danish (1961) Shalom Aleichem’s Tevye de Milkhiger. He was
succeeded in the chief rabbinate by his son Bent.
MELCHIOR, MICHAEL (1954– ), rabbi and Israeli politi-
cian. Born in Copenhagen, the son of Chief Rabbi Bent Mel-
chior, Melchior studied in Israel at Yeshivat ha-Kotel after high
school. He was ordained in 1980 and in the same year became
the first chief rabbi of Oslo and was largely responsible for the
community’s renaissance (see *Norway; *Oslo). After six years
he returned to Israel but continued to serve Norwegian Jewry.
In Israel he entered politics and was elected to the Knesset in
1999 as a representative of Meimad, a moderate religious party
aligned with the Labor Party. In the government he served as
minister without portfolio, minister for Diaspora affairs, and
deputy minister for foreign affairs.
MELCHIZEDEK (Heb.: קֶדֶציִּכְלַמ; “legitimate/righteous
king”; the English spelling follows LXX Melxisedek as op-
posed to MT Malkizedek), king of Salem (or Jerusalem; cf.
Ps. 76:3) according to Genesis 14:18–20. He welcomed *Abra-
ham after he had defeated the four kings who had captured
his nephew, Lot. Melchizedek brought out bread and wine
and blessed Abraham. Finally, it is related that “he gave him
a tithe of everything” although who gave the tithe to whom
became a subject of considerable dispute (see below). The bib-
lical account states that “he (Melchizedek) was priest of God
Most High” (ןֹויְלֶעלֵאְלןֵהֹכאּוהְו). Melchizedek’s priesthood was
a source of numerous post-biblical speculations, which were
intensified by the difficult verse Psalms 110:4: “The Lord has
sworn/and will not repent/Thou art priest for ever/after the
manner of Melchizedek” (קֶדֶציִּכְלַמיִתָרְבִּד־לַעםָלֹועְלןֵהֹכהָּתַא).
It is generally believed that the Melchizedek mentioned here
and the one in Genesis are the same. Some interpreters, how-
ever, maintain that the Melchizedek of Psalms is not a person
but a title, “my righteous king,” presumably because the name
is written as two separate words (קֶדֶציִּכְלַמ).
The first post-biblical documents mentioning Melchize-
dek in various contexts appear from around the beginning of
the Christian era. The earliest is probably the fragmentary
scroll discovered in cave 11 at Qumran (11Q Melch or 11Q 13)
and published by A.S. Van der Woude (in OTS, 14, 1965) and
again with certain corrections by M. de Jonge and A.S. Van
der Woude (in NTS, 12, 1966) and much studied since (bibliog-
raphy in Brooke). Although this text “is a midrashic develop-
ment which is independent of the classic Old Testament loci”
(J.A. Fitzmyer, JBL, 86, 1967), it is clear that the eschatologi-
cal and soteriological functions it attributes to Melchizedek
draw on the perplexing figure of the biblical Melchizedek. In
the Qumran text, Melchizedek is described as passing judg-
ment, in the time of the tenth or last Jubilee, on Belial and
those of his sort. The judgment takes place in heaven, and im-
mediately there follows the “day of slaughter” prophecied by
Isaiah. Here, Melchizedek is both judge and executor of his
own decree, and in all likelihood he is to be identified with
the Angel of Light, who figures in the dualistic doctrine of
the Qumran sect (I. Gruenwald, in: Maḥanayim, 124 (1970),
94). He has also been identified with the Archangel Michael.
Melchizedek is also mentioned in another Qumran text, the
Genesis Apocryphon (22: 13–17), where the biblical story of the
meeting between Abraham and Melchizedek is retold. Here
it is Abraham who offers the tithe to Melchizedek: “And he
[i.e., Abraham] gave him a tithe of all the goods of the king of
Elam and his companions” (cf. Heb. 7:2 followed by the Chris-
tian translations of Genesis where, however, Melchizedek, not
Abraham, is the subject of the verse). The question of who gave
the tithe to whom was of considerable importance in rabbini-
cal literature. In several places Melchizedek is stated to be a
descendant of Noah, and is even identified with Shem the son
of Noah. The same sources maintain that his priesthood was
taken away from him and bestowed upon Abraham because he
blessed Abraham first and only afterward blessed God (Gen.
14:19–20; cf. Ned. 32b; Lev. R. 25:6). Abraham’s priesthood is
also mentioned in connection with Psalms 110 (Gen. R., 55:6).
In other rabbinical sources Melchizedek is mentioned among
the four messianic figures allegorically implied by the “four
smiths” of Zechariah 2:3. Melchizedek’s messianic functions
are also elaborated in two other literary documents. At the end
of several manuscripts of the Slavonic Book of Enoch appears
the story of the miraculous birth of Melchizedek as the son of
Nir, Noah’s brother. He is transported to heaven and becomes
the head of a line of priests leading down to messianic days.
There will presumably be another eschatological Melchize-
dek who will function as both priest and king. In symbolizing
Mechizedek as Jesus in his three functions as messiah, king,
and high priest (see below) the author’s ingenuity combines
all the motives singled out in the above-mentioned sources. A
gnostic sect whose particular theological position is unknown
called itself after Melchizedek.
[Ithamar Gruenwald]
In Christian Tradition
The two brief and somewhat enigmatic references to Melchize-
dek in the Bible provided the New Testament with a subject
for typological interpretation. In the Epistle to the Hebrews
(7:1–7), Melchizedek (king of justice – Zedek; of peace – Sa-
lem) is described as unique, being both a priest and a king,
and because he is “without father, without mother, without
genealogy”; he is eternal, “having neither beginning of days
nor end of life.” In this respect Melchizedek resembles Jesus,
the son of God, and thus is a type of the savior.
Abraham, and therefore Levi “in the loins of his father”
(ibid. 9–10), paid the tithe in submission to Melchizedek.
Since in Christian tradition Jesus is high priest “after the or-
der of Melchizedek” and “not after the order of Aaron” (ibid.
7:11, 17–21), Jesus’ priesthood is excellent, superior to that of
melchizedek
12
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 14
Abraham’s descent, and transcends all human, imperfect or-
ders (Heb. 7:23–28; 8:1–6). To Christians the objection that
Jesus, like Aaron, was “in the loins” of the patriarch, and con-
sequently paid the tithe was met by the Church Fathers with
the argument that Jesus, though descended from Abraham,
had no human father.
[Ilana Shapira]
Bibliography: H.L. Strack and P. Billerbeck, Kommentar
zum Neuen Testament, 4 (1928), 452–65; Rowley, in: Festschrift Ber-
tholet (1950), 461ff.; A. Vaillant, Le livre des secrets d’Hénoch (1952);
Yadin, in: Scripta Hierosolymitana, 4 (1958), 36–55; idem, in: IEJ, 15
(1965), 152–4; Panikkar, Kairos, 1 (1959), 5–17; J. Maier, Vom Kultus zur
Gnosis (1964), 37ff.; Flusser, in: Christian News from Israel (1966), 23ff.;
J.A. Fitzmyer, in: JBL, 86 (1967), 25–41; A.R. Johnson, Sacral Kingship
in Ancient Israel (19672), 35–53; S. Paul, in: JAOS, 88 (1968), 182. IN
CHRISTIAN TRADITION: Friedlaender, in REJ, 5 (1882), 1–26, 188–98;
6 (1883), 187–99; Barody, in: RB, 35 (1926), 496–509; (1927), 25–45.
Add. Bibliography: M. Astour, in: ABD, 4:684–86; G. Brooke,
ibid, 687–88; ibid, B. Pearson, 688; J. Reiling, in: DDD, 560–63.
MELDOLA, Sephardi family of rabbis and scholars. The fam-
ily originated in the 15t century in Meldola, northern Italy;
the legend that they descended from Spanish exiles cannot be
substantiated. The first of the family to attain prominence was
JACOB MELDOLA, rabbi in Mantua in the 16t century. His son
SAMUEL MELDOLA or MENDOLA was both a rabbinic scholar
and physician to the Mantuan court. In the next generation
members of the family settled in Leghorn, entering thus into
the tradition of Sephardi life. For the next 200 years they pro-
vided rabbis, printers, and leaders to the Sephardi communi-
ties in Holland, Italy, France, and England.
Bibliography: E. Castelli, I banchi feneratizi ebraici nel
Mantovano… (1959), index; Mortara, Indice, 38; Ghirondi-Neppi,
79, 311, 355–7.
[Cecil Roth]
MELDOLA, RAPHAEL (1754–1828), British rabbi; son of
Moses Hezekiah Meldola (1725–1791), professor of Oriental
languages in Paris. Raphael was born in Leghorn, received rab-
binical ordination there from Ḥ .J.D. *Azulai in 1796, became
a dayyan in 1803, and in 1804/05 was appointed haham of the
Sephardi community in London – an office vacant since the
death of Moses Cohen d’*Azevedo in 1784. Energetic and ca-
pable, he helped to reform the educational institutions of his
community in the face of missionary activities, introduced
a choir into the synagogue, and cooperated cordially with
Solomon *Hirschel, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi. On the other
hand, his belligerent nature was responsible for periodic fric-
tion with the members of his community. Notwithstanding
his imperfect knowledge of English he corresponded exten-
sively with Christian scholars. Before leaving Leghorn, he had
published there Ḥ uppat Ḥ atanim (1797), a handbook on the
laws of marital life. He also published sermons and memo-
rial poems: part of his catechism Derekh Emunah (The Way
of Faith) appeared with his English translation after his death
(1848). His son DAVID (1797–1853), who succeeded him as pre-
siding rabbi though not as haham of the Sephardi community
in London, was one of the founde...
